La critique de James Berardinelli (1)
Hurlyburly is a talky film the entire movie is constructed around lengthy sequences of dialogue where the characters talk and talk and talk,often saying nothing. However, because the vocal rhythms are so perfect, the words are so well-chosen, and the performances are so powerful, listening to so much talk is a pleasure, not a chore. It's possible to lose oneself in Hurlyburly, precisely because nearly every line has a hypnotic quality. The action and suspense is in the words, not the deeds. We don't wait to see what the characters will do next, we wait to hear what they will say next.

As is often true of verbose movies, Hurlyburly is based on a play - in this case, David Rabe's blistering 1984 off-Broadway sensation. Director Anthony Drazan was the third film maker to approach Rabe for the rights to the production, but the first one in which the writer could sense a"personal involvement." Despite an A-list cast, Drazan had difficulty obtaining the necessary funding to make the film, in large part because many Hollywood big wigs saw a little too much of themselves in the characters fashioned by the uncompromising script.

Central to Hurlyburly is Eddie (Sean Penn), a fast-talking, coke-sniffing Hollywood casting agent whose contempt for others is exceeded only by his contempt for himself. Eddie has surrounded himself with three equally degenerate friends: his housemate and business partner, Mickey(Kevin Spacey), a mindless thug named Phil (Chazz Palminteri), and a sycophant writer, Artie (Gary Shandling).

Women have no real place in this mens' world, except as sexual objects and punching bags. Three female characters drift through the movie: Darlene (Robin Wright Penn),the love of Eddie's life; Donna (Anna Paquin), a hitchhiker who trades sex for lodging; and Bonnie (Meg Ryan), a perpetually stoned stripperwith an oral talent.